From The Playlist
'Amour' & 'The Master' Top Winners At LA Film Critics Awards, 'Zero Dark Thirty' Takes Victory In Boston
Awards byDecember 9, 2012 6:59 PM
"Zero Dark Thirty" might have cleaned up at many of the critics' awards so far (and continued to dominate year-end awards and lists over the weekend for the most part), but it's not been allowed to have a total sweep of the groups, thanks to the Los Angeles Film Critics. The LAFCAs were given out today (in fact, they're still going on, into hour six...), and the West Coast writers elected to give their top prize to Michael Haneke's "Amour."
In fact, "Zero Dark Thirty" was almost shut out altogether, bar Best Editing (the first time the LAFCA have given that award), and a runner up for Kathryn Bigelow in Best Director. "The Master," so far neglected by the critics groups, did very well, with awards for Paul Thomas Anderson, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and runner up in Best Film. "Silver Linings Playbook" won Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence (shared with Emanuelle Riva for "Amour"), and was the runner up in the screenplay award (won by "Argo"), while "Beasts of the Southern Wild" picked up three awards -- Supporting Actor for Dwight Henry, a breakthrough award for director Benh Zeitlin, and a well-deserved nod for the music. "Holy Motors" also took Best Foreign Film, with Denis Lavant placing second in the Best Actor race.
Elsewhere in the critics world, the Boston Film Critics stuck with the narrative and gave Film and Director to "Zero Dark Thirty," with Daniel Day-Lewis and Emmanuelle Riva winning the acting category, with Sally Field and, in something of a surprise, Ezra Miller in the supporting categories. The New York Online Film Critics went almost exactly the same way, though gave their supporting prizes to Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Hathaway instead.
"Zero Dark Thirty" also took the top slot in the Washington Post's list of the best films of the year (topping "Lincoln," "The Waiting Room," "Monsieur Lazhar" and "Middle of Nowhere"), so it's keeping up the critical consensus in a big way despite losing the LAFCA loss (and that hardly happened in a vacuum -- plumping away from it definitely seems like a reactive move in many ways). What does this mean for the awards season in general? Not an awful lot, though Emmanuelle Riva's three victories makes her Oscar nod more and more likely, and "The Master" 's hopes needed this boost in order to stay in the race. Check out the complete list of winners from all three groups below, and check back later in the week for SAG and Golden Globe nominations.
LA Film Critics Awards
Best Picture - "Amour" (Runner Up: "The Master")
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master" (RU: Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty")
Best Actress: Tie: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook," Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master" (RU: Denis Lavant, "Holy Motors")
Best Screenplay - Chris Terrio, "Argo" (RU: David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook")
Best Supporting Actress - Amy Adams, "The Master" (RU: Anne Hathaway, "The Dark Knight Rises" & "Les Misérables")
Best Supporting Actor - Dwight Henry, "Beasts Of The Southern Wild (RU: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained")
Best Foreign Language Film - "Holy Motors" (RU: "Footnote")
Best Cinematography - "Skyfall" (RU: "The Master")
Best Editing "Zero Dark Thirty" (RU: "Argo")
Best Documentary - "The Gatekeepers (RU: "Searching For Sugar Man")
Best Animation - "Frankenweenie" (RU: "It's Such A Beautiful Day")
Best Music/Score - "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" (RU: "The Master")
Best Production Design - "The Master" (RU: "Moonrise Kingdom")
New Generation Award: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
Boston Film Critics Awards
Best Picture - "Zero Dark Thirty" (Runner up: "Moonrise Kingdom"/"Amour")
Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty" (RU: Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master")
Best Screenplay - Tony Kushner, "Lincoln" (RU: Wes Anderson, "Moonrise Kingdom")
Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln" (RU: Denis Lavant, "Holy Motors")
Best Actress - Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour" (RU: Deanie Yip, "A Simple Life")
Best Supporting Actor - Ezra Miller, "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" (RU Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained")
Best Supporting Actress - Sally Field, "Lincoln" (RU: Emma Watson, "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower")
Best Ensemble: "Seven Psychopaths" (RU: "Moonrise Kingdom")
Best Animated Film: "Frankenweenie" (RU: "ParaNorman")
Best Documentary: "How To Survive A Plague" (RU: "The Queen Of Versailles")
Best New Filmmaker - David France, "How To Survive A Plague" (RU: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild")
Best Editing - "Zero Dark Thirty" (RU: "Argo")
Best Cinematography - "The Master" (RU: "Life Of Pi," "Moonrise Kingdom")
Best Use Of Music - "Moonrise Kingdom" (RU: "Django Unchained")
New York Film Critics Online Awards
Best Picture - "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Ensemble - "Argo"
Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"
Best Actress - Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Best Supporting Actor - Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"
Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway, "Les Misérables"
Debut Director - Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
Best Use Of Music - "Django Unchained"
Best Cinematography - "LIfe Of PI"
Best Screenplay - "Zero Dark Thirty"
Breakthrough Performance - Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
From THR
In Middle of Wide-Open Awards Season, Critics Chime In, But Is Anyone Listening? (Analysis)
THR's awards analyst reviews the choices of the numerous critics groups that announced their year-end awards this week, looking for Oscar implications that may not exist.
Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
When a film or performance receives recognition of this sort, it is, of course, never a bad thing, but the extent to which it actually helps them with Academy members is debatable. Few critics' year-end favorites or critics groups' choices have historically correlated with many choices of the Academy, which tends to embrace more accessible and widely appealing films and performances than they do. Two years ago, for instance, The Social Network topped most critics' top 10 lists and was voted best film by virtually every major critics' group, but still lost to The King's Speech when people who actually work in the industry got the chance to voice their opinion through guild awards and ultimately the Academy Awards.
What critics and critics groups can do, however, particularly when several of them agree about a film or performance, is shine a bright spotlight that piques people's curiosity, (a) introducing new contenders into the discussion and/or (b) elevating the standing of those that were already considered to be in the mix.
We all already knew that Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) was a serious contender for the best actor Oscar before LAFCA, BSFC and NYFCO gave him their awards in that category, and that Austria's Amour is probably the favorite for the best foreign language film Oscar before the NYFCC, NBR and NYFCO named it as their pick.
But how many Academy members had on their radar veteran character actress Ann Dowd (Compliance) for best supporting actress before NBR awarded her their prize in that category? Or Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea) for best actress before NYFCC singled her out? Or Dwight Henry (Beasts of the Southern Wild) for best supporting actor before LAFCA heralded him?
And then, in the category of people that were already regarded as contenders but now might be taken a bit more seriously, are NBR's best actor pick Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook); 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), who was voted best actress by all three groups that voted on Sunday, LAFCA (in a tie with Silver Linings Playbook star Jennifer Lawrence), BSFC, and NYFCO; and especially Zero Dark Thirty and its director Kathryn Bigelow, the best film and best director choices, respectively, of the NYFCC, NBR, BSFC and NYFC.
STORY: THR's Actress Roundtable: 7 Stars on Nightmare Directors, Brutal Auditions and Fights With Paparazzi
Finally, the critics groups only added to the confusion of several other close categories. The best animated feature awards were split between Frankenweenie (NYFCC, LAFCA and BSFC), Wreck-It-Ralph (NBR) and Chico & Rita (NYFCO), a film that was eligible for the Oscar last year. And the best documentary feature awards were divided between Searching for Sugar Man (NBR), The Gatekeepers (LAFCA), How to Survive a Plague (BSFC) and The Central Park Five (NYFCC and NYFCO), a film that the Academy's documentary branch didn't even include on its Oscar short-list.
One of the largest critics groups, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, will reveal its nominations Tuesday morning.
